Older consumers are more likely to click on a Facebook ad, while younger consumers are more likely to click ‘like’, according to eMarketer.
The market research company said that the younger users of the social networking site are more comfortable with interacting with brands on Facebook.
eMarketer said, with this knowledge, advertisers should optimise the landing pages for advertisemnts targeted at older people, while they should integrate the ‘like’ button with ads targeted at younger ones.
eMarketer said citing research conducted Facebook agency SocialCode over the 10 months leading up to August 2011.
Social Code analysed Facebook ads for 50 clients and focused on those that included an image, text and a ‘like’ button.
The study analysed how many consumers clicked on the ads, and from there, how many went on to ‘like’ the company’s page.
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The study found that women are more likely to click on an ad on Facebook, though both men and women are about equally likely to then click ‘like’ once they have done so.
The average clickthrough rate for women of all ages was 0.029%, compared to 0.026% for men of all ages. The "like" rate among those who clicked an ad was 39% for women and 38% for men, said eMarketer.
The company said that older consumers are more likely to click on a Facebook ad, as clickthrough rates increased from 0.026% for the 18-to-29 age range, up to 0.033% for the over-50 group.
However, consumers under the age of 50 were more likely to then ‘like’ a brand, with 18- to 29-year-olds and 40- to 49-year-olds doing so 40% of the time. Those ages 30 to 39 had a 38% ‘like’ rate, while only 36% of those over 50 hit the "like" button, said eMarketer.
